Saturday, March 8, 2014

Brian McLaren: Not "Business as Usual" for the Chuch

(One of the advantages of being a newspaper columnist is that I can contact almost anyone and ask for an interview--and usually get it. In 2011 I was able to interview Brian McLaren in advance of his visit to Winnipeg.)

For
some people, Brian McLaren is a heretic, challenging old beliefs about
Christianity and promoting new ways of thinking about things like salvation and
spirituality.

For
others, McLaren is a fresh, welcome voice, precisely because he challenges old
beliefs and suggests new ways of being a follower of Jesus.

No
matter how he is viewed—McLaren is one of the most visible leaders of what is
called the Emergent Church—gets a lot of attention.

Those
who are looking for new ways of being a Christian appreciate his call for a new
kind of Christianity where personal, daily interaction with God is more
important than institutional church structures.

They
appreciate how he talks about faith as being a way of life more than a system
of beliefs, about how being authentically good is more important than being
doctrinally “right.,”

Others
feel that, in searching for new ways to live the Christian faith, he goes too
far.

For
McLaren, it’s all part of the struggle the church in North America finds itself
in today—and he’s the lightning rod.

“We
are an embattled Christian community that is trying to retain its influence and
foothold,” he says of the current situation, where Christianity no longer holds
a dominant role in society.

This
position of dominance “can’t be regained,” he says, even though some badly want
to turn back the clock. “We have to imagine a new ethos for Christian
discipleship.”

And
what does that new ethos look like?

The
new kind of Christianity is “a movement of quest,” he states. “Early
Christianity was a way of life, not a system of belief. We need to recapture
being followers of the way of Jesus.”

This
is in contrast to the “old kind of Christianity,” which was “unmoving,
defensive, used to being in control,” defined for believers by institutions,
doctrines and statements about belief.

McLaren
is quick to note he’s not against institutions.

“But
the temptation is to go on autopilot, just participate in its rituals and
functions,” he says.

Some
Christians find the changes and challenges to traditional ways of living the
Christian faith to be very unsettling.

“Many
respond by developing a list of essentials,” he says. The problem with that
approach, he says, “the list of essentials is shrinking as we discover the
grand simplicities in the teachings of Jesus.”

If
it is an unsettling time for some, for McLaren it’s an exciting time to be a
Christian.

“This
is a time of radical reappraisal of the Gospel,” he says. “The most exciting
times in church history were times of movement, setbacks and mistakes. They
were huge ventures of faith.”

McLaren
believes that Christians today need to take some venturesome steps.

“This
is an extremely dangerous time,” he said, adding that the fate of the world
depends on the choices people make today.

For
McLaren, there are three major crises facing the world today.

The
first is the planet—too many people live in ecologically unsustainable ways.

The
second is the widening the gap between the rich and poor.

The
third is escalating violence, both in North America and around the world.

“We
need to rediscover what the Scriptures have to say to us about these things,”
McLaren said, suggesting that we need new ways of viewing Christian faith that use the Bible as an inspired library, not a constitution or set of rules
and regulations

As
for what churches do on Sunday mornings—worship—it should be “less about what
happens after we die, and more about what God is doing in the world today . . .
more about what God is doing in the world, not just what God is doing in our
hearts.”

Many
worship services, he says, are too often “a celebration of our pleasant, middle
class lifestyle. I’m all for celebrating, but we also need to keep in mind the
needs of the world.”

When
Christians shrink the frame of God’s activity “to my soul, we shrink the frame
of God’s work, turn it into sentimentality, something that doesn’t fit in a
world of suffering,” he adds.

For
McLaren, Christians today “need to find a way forward,” not do “business as
usual.”

Jesus,
he says, “didn’t say stand with me, or retreat with me, but follow me.”